Breach of Contract — Race Discrimination

I'm in a difficult situation and trying to figure out my next steps.

other party claiming force majeure. I've been dealing with this for about 15 months now and the situation isn't improving.

The contract was signed 12 months ago. I have a copy of the original agreement. The total amount in dispute is approximately $141,000.

Has anyone been through something similar? What worked for you?

Attorney here. Here's my take on the legal issues.

This is a common situation and the law is fairly clear. Under common law contract principles, unconscionable.

The practical consideration here is cost vs. potential recovery. For disputes under $10K, small claims court is often the best route.

Been there. Here's what I learned.

In my case, it took about 3-6 months to resolve. The key was having everything documented.

Not a lawyer, but I have direct experience with this.

I ended up hiring an attorney to send the initial letter, which cost about $2-4 but saved me a lot more in the long run.

This happened to me too. Have you tried filing a complaint with the relevant agency? In my case they investigated and it got resolved without needing a lawyer.

I've dealt with this before.

The biggest mistake people make in this situation is escalating to a supervisor/manager. I'd recommend following the formal complaint procedure instead.

Contract attorney here -- I handle force majeure disputes regularly and wanted to weigh in on this since the amount in dispute is significant at 141K.

Force majeure clauses are not a blanket excuse for non-performance. The party claiming force majeure typically needs to demonstrate several things:

1. The event falls within the clause. Look at the specific language of your force majeure provision. Does it list specific triggering events (war, natural disaster, pandemic, government action), or does it use broader catch-all language? If the event the other party is claiming does not fit within the enumerated triggers, the defense likely fails.
2. Causation. The force majeure event must actually prevent or materially impede performance. The other party cannot just point to a general economic downturn or supply chain challenge and call it force majeure -- they need to show a direct causal link between the event and their inability to perform.
3. Notice requirements. Most force majeure clauses require timely written notice. Did the other party notify you within the contractual timeframe? If not, they may have waived the defense entirely.
4. Mitigation. The non-performing party has a duty to mitigate. They need to show they took reasonable steps to find alternative means of performance.

At 141K in dispute, this is well above small claims limits in every jurisdiction. You should be working with a litigation attorney on this. Many contract attorneys will take cases like this on a partial contingency or hybrid fee arrangement, especially when the amount justifies it.

One more practical note: before filing suit, consider sending a formal demand letter with a response deadline. Sometimes the threat of litigation is enough to bring people to the negotiating table, and you can often settle for 70-80 cents on the dollar without the time and expense of full litigation.

Supply chain consultant here. I have been involved as an expert witness in several force majeure disputes since 2020 and the case law has evolved significantly. Here are some observations that might help.

Post-pandemic, courts are much more skeptical of force majeure claims. The reasoning is that after COVID, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages are foreseeable risks that businesses should have planned for. Many recent court decisions have rejected force majeure defenses where the claimed event was something the party could have anticipated and mitigated.

One important development: several courts have held that increased costs alone do not constitute force majeure. The other party needs to show that performance was truly impossible or impracticable, not just more expensive than anticipated. If they can still perform but it would cut into their margins, that is typically a commercial impracticability argument (which has an even higher bar) rather than force majeure.

Request documentation from the other party. Ask them to provide specific evidence of the force majeure event, how it directly prevented their performance, what mitigation steps they took, and when they first became aware of the issue. If they cannot provide concrete answers to these questions, their claim is likely weak.